Refrigerator.



Patented Dec. 3|, |901.

J. S. CONWELL. REFRIGERATOR. -Applvntion led Sept. 5, 1901.)

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(No Model.)

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No. 69U,|35. Patented Dec. 3|, 190|, J. S. CUNWELL.

REFRIGERATOR.

'Application filed Sept. 5, 1901.1 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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dUrTTTT-zn STaTns PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES SlMPSON CONWELL, OF ANDERSON, lNDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE VILKE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, A OOR- PORATION.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECEEEGATKON forming part of Letters Patent No. 690,135, dated December 31, 1901.

Application led September 5,1901. Serial No. 74,420. (No modelJ To all zoll/0771, it may cm2/cern:

Be it known that I, JAMns SIMPSON CON- WELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in refrigerators.

The object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator with glass-lined interior and constructed so that it may be shipped and handled with little danger of breaking the glass.

Another object ot' my invention is to provide a detachable rack for supporting the icepan and shelves, thus avoiding the piercing of the walls to attach fastening means to the refrigerator.

The features of my invention will be more fully set forth in the description of the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure l is a central vertical section of my improved refrigerator. Fig. 2 is a section on line n: x, Fig. l, with the rack removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the meeting edges of the interior glass-plate walls. Fig. et is a sectional view of the door-partition frame. Fig. 5 is a sectional perspective view of one of the doors. Fig. 6 is a sectional perspective view of one of the upper corners of the interior of the refrigerator,showing a metallic fasteningplate. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the supporting-rack for ice-pan and shelves. Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the manner in which the side strips of the rack are attached to the uprights.

A represents a skeleton frame of wood consisting of sills, corner-posts, and girders.

A' represents joists secured to the end sills of the frame. The sills are gained, as at s.

C represents a glass plate forming the floor of the refrigerator and having a hole suitably drilled through the saine for the drain-pipe G. This plate rests on the sills and joists without being cemented or puttied at the edges, these wooden supports serving as a cushion to resist jars and strains. I prefer to make the glass floor of one piece for the common sizes of refrigerators.

C C represent the side glass plates which form the inside walls. These wall-plates are supported in the following manner: A strip of wood d or other suitable cushioning material about half the width of the glass plate is placed upon the upper surface edges of the floor-plate opposite the gains upon which the side glass plates O O' rest. The top glass plate O2 is then spanned across the side plates, provided with a cushioning-strip at its lower abutting or meetingsurface edges. The backwall glass plate C3 is then placed against the plates C O O' C2, provided with a cushioningstrip around its entire contacting surface edge. The remaining space between the glass plates left by the cushioning-strips is filled with a moisture-proof cement l). After the interior glass plates are placed Ain position the top girders fr are placed in position, resting on the top frame-plates k, spanning the interior space of the refrigerator. The top girders 1' serve as a cushioning-support to prevent the upper plate from rising. The outside finishing-surface is provided in the usual manner. By this construction the glass plates forming the lining-walls and fioor all have cushioningsu pports,\vhich prevent their fracturein shipping and which are compressible under the' expansions of glass plates and also prevent fracture 'from such strains.

In order to more securely hold the in sidewall plates in position, I provide corner-brackets K, which are held in position by lag-screws q, the corners of the abutting inside glass plates being beveled off to allow the lag-screw to be inserted into the frame.

I prefer to make the outside surface or iinishing-walls of tile; but they may be of glass. The tile is united and secured to the frame in the following manner:

Il represents a series of Wooden girder-strips suitably secured to the posts, which form ribs for anchoring the sections composing the outside walls. B represents said sections, being a series of tile-blocks.

h represents screws provided with washers for securing the tile-sections in position. The corners of each tile are clipped off sufficient to allow the screws h to be inserted into the frame at the point of intersection of four tile ICO blocks, and where there are no four points of intersection of tile-blocks the screws may Dass between the meeting edges of two tiles. The jamb-posts for the doors are connected to and between the sills and corner-posts and Athe outside wall, each side of the door finished in the same manner as the end and top outside walls.

The doors are constructed as follows: I J, Fig. 5, represent the top and bottom sections of the door-frame, which are gained to receive the inside lining glass plate n and rabbeted to fit the jambs in the usual manner. m represents the sections of outside tile iinishing-surface, secured to the ribs il in the same manner as the tile-sections of the outside walls. j represents a metallic bindingstrip for securely holding the glass plate n in position. This strip is constructed so as to provide a springlike pressure constantly against the glass plate. The door-partition is constructed as shown in Fig. 4. M represents the frame-piece, and g the inside liningplate held in position by metallic bindingstrip g. M represents the outside finishing tile-sections secured by screws g2 to the framepieces M.

D represents a detachable combined icepan and shelf-supporting rack constructed so that it may be readily removed from the refrigerator. The rack is constructed in the following manner:

d represents uprights having their lower ends liattened or bent to form a more substantial rest for the structure.

d d represent top angle-iron strips riveted to the uprights. -These strips are in a line with the front and rear walls of the refrigerator and adapted to support the ice-pan E. cl2 represents angle-iron strips attached to the sides of the uprights for supporting the shelves F. These strips are pivoted at one end to the uprights, while the opposite ends are provided with notches adapted to engage a headed lug in the opposite supporting-uprights, as shown in Fig. 8. By this'means the rack is readily detached, permitting it to be removed from the interior of the refrigerator, allowing clear access to the interior when it is desired to clean the same, and further obviates the employment of any brackets or fastening means for supporting the shelves and ice-pan directly applied or secured to the lining-walls, as owing to` the fragile nature of the glass such means are quite difficult to properly and substantially provide.

L represents alling material of mineral wool or other similar non-conducting material placed between the interior lining and outer surface or nishing-walls.

I believe I am the first to devise means for lining and supporting glass plates upon the inside of a refrigerator so connected to the frame and to each other that the plates are supported on cushioning material, such as wood, sothat the same are able to withstand shocks and jars and the strains incident to contraction and expansion of extensive glass plates.

Having described my invention, I claim- A refrigerator having the interior lined with the solid glass sections, the ends of one section abutting the overlapping opposing faces of the other glass sections, arranged adjacent and in transverse plane thereto, and cushioning-strips faced with Waterproof cement, placed between the meeting surfaces of the said glass sections, substantially as shown. Y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES SIMPSON CONWELL.

Witnesses:

OLIVER B. KAIsER, WILLIE INNEs. 

